Title & escrow is a niche industry and one that many people outside of real estate have likely never heard of.
Ryan Marrie, President of Ohio Real Title, uses a unique recruitment tool to find new, rising talent from both inside and outside the title industry. The results speak for themselves. Marrie’s office is a buzzing workplace with talented, thriving employees. His secret to discovering these dedicated employees? A tool that helps him understand an individual’s innate personality to place them in a role that fulfills their most basic motivations.
A hiring strategy that expands, not limits recruitment potential
Marrie uses a tool called the Predictive Index which helps him evaluate candidates by determining their innate personalities and motivators. The assessment measures what drives the individual and builds a behavioral profile. “Everyone has a unique profile—it’s not good or bad—it’s just about finding what drives that person, what kind of work they thrive in, and if they are a good fit for a particular role or team,” Marrie said.
This tool is powerful for Marrie’s recruitment efforts. Instead of looking only at someone’s past work experience—which limits the pool of applicants to only those with title & escrow experience— he can evaluate their innate motivators and find compelling candidates from other industries. “We look for educated professionals that we can train,” he explained. “We’ve hired a number of teachers, we’ve hired branch managers from banks, and we’ve hired a number of loan processors that have been terrific.”
For example, Kristen Morelli, an Escrow Coordinator at Ohio Real Title, previously worked in healthcare for more than 20 years before joining the team. “It sounded like a profession that seemed both interesting and challenging,” she said. “The industry also helps people at an important time in their lives, which is something I valued.”
Build retention into the hiring process
Filling an open position is often the most pressing objective during the hiring process; however, urgency often creates tunnel vision. “The majority of the industry recycles people from company to company,” Marrie said. “You can look at someone’s resume and think they look great [because they’ve done the role in the past], but when you view their behavioral profile, you might see that they actually don’t match the profile type you’re looking for.”
A profile type creates a framework for the role based on the ideal employee’s behavioral motivators. For example, an escrow officer profile might be someone who enjoys working with structure yet also thrives in dynamic environments. These frameworks enable Marrie to hire people into the right roles that match their personalities. “Our retention rate is great because we get people in the right role. We hire right from the start,” he said.
Marrie’s hiring strategy takes patience during a new employee’s ramp up time, but his retention results are strong. Tools like Qualia University also help with training and education efforts. “Training is really individualized…every single thing we do is customized to how the employee learns best,” he said.
Overall, Marrie’s hiring mission is all about bringing the right people into the industry. This not only benefits his business, but also helps drive the title & escrow industry forward. With more qualified, passionate people exploring title & escrow, the industry becomes less insular and more expansive.
This post is part of our latest Future of Work series. To hear more from other real estate business leaders who are rethinking hiring and retention, click below to subscribe to our blog and receive the latest stories straight to your inbox.
